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Greenwash: Big Brands and Carbon Scams

Going green is the new black for big business. But how real is the climate-friendly revolution that's being advertised?

Toyota reckons Mother Nature drives a Prius, Ford wants us to 'Join the Green Revolution', and McDonald's has painted its famous golden arches green. Facebook has even 'friended' Greenpeace.

But are big brands and the celebrities endorsing them really as green as they claim? In Greenwash, in the tradition of Fast Food Nation and No Logo, Guy Pearse looks behind the corporate façade – and what he finds will startle you.

Nothing is sacred and no one is safe from scrutiny in this exposé of carbon scams: not the Prius or the Nissan LEAF, not the World Wildlife Fund or Earth Hour, not Oprah or Leonardo DiCaprio. For consumers trying to shop the planet green, Greenwash is a wake-up call. It's also an entertaining and practical book that helps consumers to pick the truly green businesses from the greenwashers and to demand a higher environmental standard from all.

About the author

Guy Pearse is an author and environmental commentator. A former political adviser, lobbyist and speechwriter, he is currently a research fellow at the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland.

Specifications

Specifications

Release date: 30 Sep 2012

RRP: $29.99

Paperback ISBN: 9781863955751

eISBN: 9781921870767

Imprint: Black Inc.

Format: PB

Size: 234 x 153mm

Extent: 264pp

Praise for Greenwash

‘Guy Pearse travels the sewers of misinformation to show us exactly how, from banks to airlines, there's a growth industry in green horseshit. But, after hosing himself off, Pearse also presents us with a far more thoughtful analysis than I've read in other exposés of greenwashing.’ —Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starvedand the New York Times bestseller The Value of Nothing

‘Before I read Greenwash I thought I could no longer be shocked by the skulduggery of the marketers. How wrong I was. Read Greenwash to be reminded why advertising is called the dark art and how marketing has become the most destructive force on the planet.’ —Clive Hamilton, author of Affluenza and Requiem for a Species